Winnipeg Sun: Ma Nature is 'not cool'

Ma Nature is 'not cool'

Snowstorm is a knee-slapper, but flood evacuations aren't so funny, lady

By KEVIN ENGSTROM

This must be Mother Nature's version of March Madness.

Amidst signs all around us that spring had finally sprung in these parts, Ma Nature pulled the rug out from under us this past week, blasting us with the snowstorm of the year just as we were starting to dream about summers at the cottage and beers on the patio.

Instead of dusting off the golf clubs, we were pulling out the snow shovels. Blurg.

If this wasn't bad enough, now we're hearing words and phrases like sandbags, ice jams, evacuations and the ultimate redundant phrase, overland flooding -- as opposed to the flooding that happens under the land or over the water.

The situation is even worse south of the border, where the city of Fargo went into the weekend facing its potential Armageddon as the bloated Red River surged to heights higher than 1997.

We're hoping for the best for our American friends, but it wasn't exactly an encouraging sign on Thursday when the Fargo's mayor started placing odds on the city's survival, then added, "Those are actually favourable odds in Vegas."

Yes, it's safe to say at this point Tony Soprano's mom treated him better than Ma Nature is treating her peeps in the Red River Valley lately.

And that's saying something considering Mrs. Soprano tried to have Tony whacked.

What could we have done to make Mother Nature such a raging female dog towards us?

Could it be the lingering resentment that our local economy hasn't fallen into recession? Is she a secret Tory and upset about the NDP sweep in Tuesday's byelections?

Perhaps she's still annoyed that we inflicted Streetheart on the world ...?

Whatever it is, Ma Nature, you've had your fun. Now you need to let us off the hook.

Don't get us wrong, we love the gallows humour as much as anyone, but you've taken the joke too far.

Letting us shovel a small mountain of snow in the spring is a riot, but forcing thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes in search of higher ground, not knowing what they're going to return to, is totally not cool.

Such a scenario is unimaginable to us and --jokes aside -- leave us thankful nobody we personally know and love has to endure such hardship.

For the people going through it, we can only offer our sympathies, a set of hands to help with sandbag efforts, and the desperate hope Mother Nature will ease up on the ugly weather for awhile.

There's a lot of peeps who can't take much more of this.